We've already discussed Easter Eggs in movies and the many ways filmmakers create in-jokes and references for savvy viewers and those in the know, but today we're taking a look at filmmakers referencing other filmmakers (or their stars...or themselves). We bet you'll never watch these movies the same way again.
Honoring Directors They Admire:
1. Star Wars in Star Trek
Paramount Pictures
It's no surprise that Super 8 director J. J. Abrams is a Star Wars fan, but we bet you never caught R2-D2's appearance in both Star Trek and Star Trek: Into Darkness. It looks like Star Wars: The Force Awakens won't be Abrams' first time with the Star Wars world.
Giving a Nod To Its Stars' Careers
2. Romy and Michele's High School Reunion's wink at Quentin Tarantino
Buena Vista Pictures
The comedy has a few subtle references to Quentin Tarantino's film universe. At the time, Mira Sorvino (Romy) was dating Tarantino. Thus, the keen eye can discern a Big Kahuna Burger take-out bag behind Michele's head in the scene where they pig out and decide to emulate top female executives. In one of the next scenes, an ad for Red Apple Cigarettes can be seen behind their car. Both of these brands were made up by Tarantino for his films. Red Apple cigarettes can be seen in films like Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Four Rooms, and From Dusk Til Dawn.
3. Bruce Willis' Favorite Song
20th Century Fox via Everett Collection
Die Hard With A Vengeance has a Pulp Fiction reference in it! Who knew? Bruce Willis' Pulp Fiction character, Butch, is driving around while "Flowers on the Wall" by the Statley Brothers plays on his radio and he sings along before running into Marsellus Wallace. Die Hard's John McClane exits a cab in the 1995 film with Samuel L. Jackson and references his time suspended by reciting the same lyrics from Pulp Fiction: "I was working on a nice fat suspension. Smokin cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo." Willis starred in Pulp Fiction with Jackson between Die Hard 2 and Die Hard With A Vengeance.
4. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas with Rango
sodahead.com
The beginning of Rango features the Johnny Depp-voiced reptile landing on the windshield of a convertible driven by none other than Duke and Gonzo from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Johnny Depp paying tribute to Johnny Depp.
5. Adam Brody in Mr. &amp; Mrs. Smith
20th Century Fox via Everett Collection
Okay, maybe everyone just really loves Fight Club and Brad Pitt, right? In the 2005 rom-com action movie, Seth Cohen plays the man they're both assigned to kill, which is how they realize they're both spies. The whole time, Brody is wearing a Fight Club t-shirt. It's pretty obvious whose side he's on.
6. Fight Club Starring Brad Pitt
20 Century Fox
Fight Club has a bunch of hidden gems in it, including advertisements for its main stars. Theater marquees within the movie advertise films starring Brad Pitt (Seven Years In Tibet), Edward Norton (The People Vs. Larry Flynt), and even Helena Bonham Carter (The Wings of the Dove, although it's obscured by a bus in the scene, so this is questionable).
Paying Homage To Themselves:
7. The Social Network's Tyler Durden
Columbia Pictures
Fight Club's director David Fincher has also been known to reference his own movies. In The Social Network, Jesse Eisenberg's Zuckerberg uses Facebook for help on an Art History assignment. The profile he's viewing? Tyler Durden's.
8. Charlie and The Chocolate Factory
Warner Bros.
In the Tim Burton adaptation of Roald Dahl's classic, Charlie's father works for Smilex toothpaste factory; this is a reference to the poison Joker unleashed on Gotham in the Burton-directed Batman by hiding it in their toothpaste. During a tour of the factory, Wonka walks by a room of pink sheep as he says, "I'd rather not talk about this one." While this may just seem like a way to accentuate his eccentricity, Burton's actually referencing his Ed Wood biopic, also starring Johnny Depp; director Ed Wood was a notorious cross-dresser with an affinity for pink wool. In other scenes throughout the movie, children in the Halloween flashback wear masks of Lock, Shock, and Barrel from The Nightmare Before Christmas and a door in the factory is marked "BeetleJuicing."
9. Before Sunrise/Waking Life/Dazed and Confused
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Oscar-nominated writer-director Richard Linklater's film worlds seem to intersect at times. Like when Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy reprise their characters Jesse and Celine from Before Sunrise in the rotoscope dream movie Waking Life, which they then reference in Before Sunset. But there are subtler ways in which the films inhabit the same world: pinball. The same pinball machine can be found in at least three of Linklater's films: Waking Life, Before Sunrise, and Dazed and Confused.
10. Friends With Benefits picks up Easy A
Screen Gems
Director Will Gluck references his 2010 hit comedy Easy A in the totally-okay-but-not-as-successful 2011 film Friends With Benefits. The sign at the airport for an "O. Penderghast" alludes to Emma Stone's character in Easy A. Stone appears in both films and is flawless in both.
Paying Tribute To Other Directors:
11. Indiana Jones/Star Wars/E.T.
Paramount Pictures
R2-D2 makes another appearance - this time in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Spielberg paid tribute to Indiana Jones writer George Lucas by including hieroglyphics of the Star Wars droid in the 1981 film. Three years later, Spielberg did it again by naming a club in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom after Obi-Wan Kenobi.
12. E.T. in Star Wars
20th Century Fox
And then George Lucas thanks Steven Spielberg by featuring E.T. the Extra Terrestrial in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.
13. Evil Dead 2/Nightmare on Elm Street
Paramount Pictures
Director Sam Raimi pays homage to Wes Craven in Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn by sneaking iconic slasher Freddy Krueger's glove in the background of a few scenes.
Paying Tribute To The Genre:
14. Scream
GIPHY/reddit.com
Scream is more jam-packed with references than most other movies. It's basically a two-hour homage to the horror genre entirely. The character Billy Loomis borrows his last name from Psycho's Sam Loomis before quoting Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates. The janitor outside Principal Himbry's office (played by director Wes Craven himself) is named Fred and wears Freddy Krueger's iconic striped shirt. The film is so saturated with in-jokes and references that it's pretty easy for even the most savvy viewers to miss Scream Queen Linda Blair's brief cameo. Take comfort in understanding the constant name-checking of other horror flicks.

The Grand Budapest Hotel emerged as the top contender for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Film Awards on Friday (09Jan15). The oddball comedy, starring Ralph Fiennes, lead the charge with 11 nominations as the shortlist was announced by the ceremony's host Stephen Fry and Hunger Games star Sam Claflin in London.
The Theory of Everything and Birdman closely followed with ten nominations, and all three movies will go head-to-head for the coveted Best Film prize, alongside The Imitation Game and Boyhood, which both received a host of nods.
The Grand Budapest Hotel also picked up a Leading Actor nomination for Fiennes, Director and Original Screenplay nods for Wes Anderson, and mentions in multiple technical categories including Music, Costume Design and Cinematography.
The Theory of Everything will also compete in the Best Leading Actor category for Eddie Redmayne, leading actress for Felicity Jones, Best British Film, Best Director for James Marsh, and Best Adapted Screenplay, while Birdman's Michael Keaton received another awards season nomination. The film's director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu earned a nod, as did supporting actors Edward Norton and Emma Stone.
The lead actor category is completed by Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler) and Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game), while other contenders for the female counterpart include Reese Witherspoon (Wild), Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl), Julianne Moore (Still Alice) and Amy Adams (Big Eyes).
Further nominees for best director are Richard Linklater for Boyhood and Damien Chazelle for Whiplash.
Pride, Paddington, The Imitation Game, '71 and Under the Skin will compete for the Outstanding British Film title.
The winners will be announced at London's Royal Opera House on 08 February (15). The show will be hosted by Fry.
The main nominees are as follows:
Best Film:
The Theory of Everything
The Imitation Game
Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Boyhood
Best Leading Actor:
Michael Keaton - Birdman
Jake Gyllenhaal - Nightcrawler
Eddie Redmayne - The Theory of Everything
Benedict Cumberbatch - The Imitation Game
Ralph Fiennes - The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Leading Actress:
Felicity Jones - The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore - Still Alice
Rosamund Pike - Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon - Wild
Amy Adams - Big Eyes
Best Supporting Actor:
Steve Carell - Foxcatcher
Ethan Hawke - Boyhood
Edward Norton - Birdman
Mark Ruffalo - Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons - Whiplash
Best Supporting Actress:
Patricia Arquette - Boyhood
Keira Knightley - The Imitation Game
Emma Stone - Birdman
Rene Russo - Nightcrawler
Imelda Staunton - Pride
EE Rising Star Award:
Jack O'Connell
Margot Robbie
Shailene Woodley
Miles Teller
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Outstanding British Film:
The Theory of Everything
The Imitation Game
'71
Paddington
Pride
Under the Skin
Best Director:
Wes Anderson - The Grand Budapest Hotel
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu - Birdman
Richard Linklater - Boyhood
James Marsh - The Theory of Everything
Damien Chazelle - Whiplash
Best Original Screenplay:
Richard Linklater - Boyhood
Wes Anderson - The Grand Budapest Hotel
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. and Armando Bo - Birdman
Damien Chazelle - Whiplash
Dan Gilroy - Nightcrawler
Best Adapted Screenplay:
Gillian Flynn - Gone Girl
Graham Moore - The Imitation Game
Jason Hall - American Sniper
Paul King - Paddington
Anthony McCarten - The Theory of Everything
Best Animated Film:
Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
The Lego Movie

Theatre mogul Andrew Lloyd Webber is teaming with Glenn Slater and Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes to bring Jack Black's hit movie School Of Rock to Broadway next year (15). The stage production will be based on Richard Linklater's 2003 film, which starred Black as an energetic music teacher, and will feature music from the movie as well as new tunes written by Lloyd Webber.
The English composer says, "It is a joy for me to return to my Jesus Christ Superstar roots.
"When Deep Purple's Ian Gillan was recording Jesus for Tim Rice and me at London's Olympic Studios, Led Zeppelin was recording next door and a glimpse of a (Rolling) Stone or two was routine! School of Rock is hugely about how music can empower kids."
The show will be directed by Laurence Connor and is slated to begin previews on 2 November (15) at the Winter Garden Theatre.
Casting will begin in January (15), according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Birdman is continuing to soar high as it enters awards season after landing 13 nominations for the 2015 Critics' Choice Movie Awards. Michael Keaton's film will compete for Best Picture against The Grand Budapest Hotel, Gone Girl, Nightcrawler, Selma, The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything, Whiplash, Unbroken and another critics' favourite, Boyhood.
Meanwhile, Birdman filmmaker Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is shortlisted for Best Director, facing off against Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel), Ava DuVernay (Selma), David Fincher (Gone Girl), Richard Linklater (Boyhood) and Angelina Jolie (Unbroken).
There was also recognition for Keaton (Best Actor) and supporting nominations for Edward Norton and Emma Stone.
Other Best Actor contenders include Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game), David Oyelowo (Selma) and Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything), while the female equivalent features the likes of Jennifer Aniston (Cake), Julianne Moore (Still Alice) and Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl).
Supporting nods went to Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher), J.K. Simmons (Whiplash), Patricia Arquette (Boyhood) and Keira Knightley (The Imitation Game).
The Grand Budapest Hotel was the second most-nominated film just behind Birdman with 11 nods, while Boyhood grabbed eight.
Meanwhile, director Ron Howard will receive the Louis XIII Critics' Choice Genius Award, while Best Supporting Actress nominee Jessica Chastain will take home the inaugural Critics' Choice MVP Award and Kevin Costner will be saluted with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
The winners of the 2015 Critics' Choice Movie Awards will be unveiled at a ceremony in Los Angeles on 15 January (15).

Richard Linklater's Boyhood is gathering pace ahead of the Oscars after landing five top awards, including Best Picture, from the Boston Society of Film Critics. The coming-of-age movie, starring Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette, also picked up Best Director for Linklater and Best Ensemble Cast award when the winners were unveiled on Sunday (07Dec14).
Michael Keaton took home the Best Actor accolade for Birdman, while Marion Cotillard scored the Best Actress nod for Two Days, One Night and The Immigrant.
J.K. Simmons was named Best Supporting Actor for Whiplash and Emma Stone was feted as Best Supporting Actress for Birdman.
Best Screenplay was a tie between Alejandro G. Inarritu's Birdman and Linklater's Boyhood, while Dan Gilroy was named the Best New Filmmaker for Jake Gyllenhaal's Nightcrawler.

Rolling Stones star Keith Richards has paid tribute to the band's late saxophonist Bobby Keys in a touching new magazine interview. Insisting the musician, who died on Tuesday (02Dec14), was "built for fun", the guitar great recalled working with Keys in the studio during a chat with Rolling Stone this week (ends05Dec14).
Richards remembers, "When we were making Exile on Main Street in France, we were there for several months, and I had a good old speedboat. In the afternoons, before we went down the basement to record, we'd sort of zoom around, creating mayhem from Monte Carlo to Cannes. Bobby also bought a huge motorcycle, which he used to roar around the hills and pick up a few girlfriends. He'd always come back with a different chick on the back. He was that kind of guy.
"He was the epitome of the rock & roll sax-playing man. He used to tell me about listening to Buddy Holly rehearse in his garage just down the road from his house. That's one of the reasons he wanted to get into music. That's pretty early rock & roll, so he was right in there at the very beginning. He was playing on the road by the time he was 15. He was a piece of history in himself, and had a deep knowledge of it.
"When we brought Bobby in, we were listening to the great soul bands of the 60s. We wanted to give the band a bigger sound and were influenced by all of the beautiful R&B records with the Memphis horns... so adding saxes seemed quite natural to us...
"When he cut Live With Me, his first record with us, I immediately thought of great players like Plas Johnson or Lee Allen, who played for Little Richard and Fats Domino. He had that same Southern feel on the way he played. I guess that's not too astounding, since he does come from Texas. He never let anybody forget he was from Texas."
He adds, "Bobby and I were on the road together for about two years before we found out that we were actually born within hours of each other. I think we had a passport check somewhere in Europe, so we started to read our passports to each other: '18th of December, 1943, get out of here!' We still never figured out who was older.
"We went on a lot of cruises together. It was nuts, you know. Bobby, in those days, was very large on the stimulants... and he always had an incredible list of drinks.
"Once in the Playboy mansion, we hung out until the bathroom went down. We were smoking and forgot where we were putting the ashes: 'Bobby, is it getting a bit smoky in here?' Suddenly, the drapes are smouldering. I'm going, 'Oh, Hugh Hefner's gonna love this!"
Richards concludes, "He was just a barrel of laughs to be around. I very rarely saw him down, and if I did, it was usually about a young lady who dumped him or something. And he soon got over that. He probably wouldn't want us to be too solemn right now. Basically when it's all said and done, I'm looking upon this now as a celebration of life rather than a memorial for his death. He'd like a big wake.
"It's a sad thing, but not totally unexpected. I've been speaking to him for the last couple of weeks and he was still laughing, but he was getting weak. I just wanted to cheer him up."
The Stones released a collective statement after hearing of Keys' passing. It read: "The Rolling Stones are devastated by the loss of their very dear friend and legendary saxophone player, Bobby Keys. Bobby made a unique musical contribution to the band since the 1960s. He will be greatly missed."

Kc & The Sunshine Band frontman Harry Wayne Casey has paid tribute to disco and R&B mogul Henry Stone, following his death on Thursday (07Aug14). The TK Records co-founder passed away from natural causes at the age of 93 at a Florida hospital.
Stone played an instrumental part in the careers of Ray Charles, James Brown and KC & The Sunshine Band after launching his own recording studio and label in 1948.
Charles became his first big artist, recording his early song St. Pete Florida Blues, also known as I Found My Baby There, at the studio.
Stone also helped to sign soul legend Brown and his band The Famous Flames, and scored a big hit with Please, Please, Please in 1956.
Casey, aka KC, worked part time at TK Records and ended up landing his group a deal at the label, where they experienced huge success with songs including Get Down Tonight, Shake, Shake, Shake (Shake Your Booty), That's the Way (I Like It), and I'm Your Boogie Man.
He also co-wrote George McRae's hit Rock Your Body in the mid-1970s with his bandmate Richard Finch.
Calling Stone his "mentor", Casey adds, "Henry believed in me when no one else did."
Meanwhile, Finch tells the Miami Herald, "The world of music has lost a trailblazer - a legend - but personally, I've lost the only father I've ever known.
"He was my friend and mentor... He gave life to the studio concept that Harry and I created together at TK, resulting in the birth of our band, KC & the Sunshine Band. Our success, the success of so many other TK artists, all props and thanks lie solely at the feet of Henry Stone."

The longtime manager of acclaimed hip-hop group The Roots has died. Rumours surfaced on Wednesday (16Jul14) suggesting Richard Nichols had died following a long illness, but his musician pal Jon Pinder cleared up the reports on Thursday morning (17Jul14), revealing he was still alive but was nearing the end.
In a post on Facebook.com, he wrote, "Rich Nichols... is fading and it's just a matter of time before he leaves us".
However, Nichols lost his battle with leukaemia hours later.
His death has been confirmed on The Roots' Okayplayer website, with the band calling him "the guiding spirit behind the group".
A number of stars have taken to Twitter.com to pay tribute to the music manager, with hip-hop veteran Talib Kweli writing, "Rest in peace to one of the greatest men I've ever met, Rich Nichols".
R&B singer Jill Scott added, "Enduring respect for a brilliant, extraordinary MAN... Peace is yours", while rapper Phonte tweeted, "RIP to my man Rich Nichols. The lessons he taught me both in and out of the studio were priceless. Rest easy, good brother", and producer 9th Wonder posted, "Rest In Peace, and Power".
The Roots, fronted by drummer Questlove, also expressed their thanks to fans for their messages of support on Thursday, writing, "Much respect and gratitude to all who have expressed your condolences and shared memories of #RichNichols. We thank you."
Nichols began his music career as a jazz radio DJ before signing on as The Roots' manager in 1991. He executive produced all of the band's albums, including its latest release, ...and then you shoot your cousin.
He also worked as a producer for the likes of Scott, Musiq Soulchild, Al Green, Erykah Badu, Common and Sly and the Family Stone.

Columbia Pictures via Everett Collection
As grand as the themes of good and evil, needs and deservings, power and responsibility and such forth are, superhero movies are generally pretty straightforward in premise: hero stops villain from wreaking havoc. As off-putting as this kind of simplicity might sound, it's usually the right way to go. If you pack enough substance into your characters and adhere your plot to these linear margins, you can actually wind up saying a healthy amount (and having a lot of fun). The Amazing Spider-Man 2 gets half of this formula down pat. Although Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker is still a moreover undistinguished identity, his emotional magnitude (re: his relationship with Gwen Stacy) is enough to keep him valid through the storm of lunacy that is his second feature. And it's not even that lunacy that holds him back. The problem isn't how wild his conquests are, how silly some of the action sequences feel, or how absolutely bonkers his villains turn out to be. It's all the other stuff (and yes, if you can believe it, there's a ton more going on in this movie than what I've already mentioned — that's the issue). All the plot twists, tertiary mysteries, ominous flashbacks, abject reveals, and weightlessly sinister pawns in this brooding game that, save for its fun with the baddies, takes itself way too seriously. All that stuff that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 thinks is necessary to make Peter Parker matter? It actually does just the opposite.
Peter is at his best when he's playing Tracy and Hepburn with the girlfriend he's perpetually disappointing (the eternally charming Emma Stone), or trying to win back the favor of the only remaining parental figure from whom he's rapidly slipping away (Sally Field, reminding us why she's a household name), or angling to connect with the mentally unstable engineer who just wants people to notice him (Jamie Foxx working his comic shtick with a frightening zest). We have the most fun with Peter when he's playing the simplest games, and we connect best with him on similar ground. But Peter and company, at the behest of The Amazing Spider-Man franchise's Sandman-sized aspirations, spend so much time exploring new avenues: the secrets surrounding the death and work of Richard Parker, the behind-the-curtains operations of OsCorp, the nefarious goings on in the waterside penitentiary Ravencroft.
Columbia Pictures via Everett Collection
As a result of the grand stab at world building, there is just so much stuff that Peter has to wade through in this movie, dragging the likes of Gwen and his boyhood friend Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan, mastering angst, menace, and upper-class privilege all at once) into the dark crevasses of narrative waste. With so many diversions into the emotionally vacant, deliberately joyless explorations of Parker family origin stories, secret brief cases, and underground subways — The Amazing Spider-Man 2 rivals Captain America: The Winter Soldier in complexity, but forgets the necessary ingredient of fun — we barely have enough energy left when the good stuff hits.
And in truth, the good stuff isn't really good enough to sustain us through all the duller periods. Garfield and Stone do have laudable chemistry. Foxx is a hoot as Peter's maniacal new foe, especially when paired with the grimacing DeHaan. And the action, while often straying from any aesthetic authenticity, is nothing shy of neat-o. It's all passable, occasionally worthy of a hearty smile, but rarely anything you'll be definitively pleased you took the time to see.
But beyond coming up short in the micro, the film's regal downfall is its scope. With so much to do, both in accomplishing its own necessary plot points and setting up for those to come in future films, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 doesn't seem to take time to make sure it's having fun with its own premise. And if it isn't having fun, we won't be either.
2.5/5
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